Chapter 924
Chapter 924
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 924
Chapter Title: Academy's Savior
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"...I’m sorry, but... could you give me a hand? I'm stuck and I can't move."
"Of course. Should I just pull you out?"
"Y-yeah... please."
Namgung Hwa-yeon’s voice carried a thick note of embarrassment. She was painfully aware that, from my position, I was getting a direct view up her skirt.
I gripped both of her ankles and gave a firm tug, but she didn't budge an inch. I grunted and put more strength into it.
"Urgh! Ow, that hurts!"
"Ah, my bad. But you're really wedged in there. Wouldn't it be easier if I just dug out some of the ground to make more room?"
"...I had a feeling you'd say that, but no. That won't work either. This is a Spatial Weasel's prank."
'...The Spatial Weasel showing up this early is a deviation from the original story.'
In the game, Namgung Hwa-yeon usually spends a long time fruitlessly tracking monster traces before finally encountering the creature. My interference had clearly accelerated the timeline.
I let go of her feet and continued to stare intently up her skirt. The temptation to reach out and press my palm against the center of her white panties was nearly overwhelming.
"...I can feel your gaze, Yu-jin. Are you... are you looking up my skirt right now?"
"No way. I'm just keeping watch to make sure no one else wanders by. Should I go call for backup?"
"No! It's fine. The Spatial Weasel's prank should wear off on its own in about ten minutes. ...Just... if anyone does show up, make sure they don't see me like this."
"You got it, Sunbae. Leave everything to me."
Exactly ten minutes later, the spatial distortion flickered out, and Namgung Hwa-yeon was finally able to crawl through the hole into the courtyard. I followed closely behind her.
"The Spatial Weasel headed toward the right. Luckily, it didn't try to enter the main building."
"It probably instinctively knows that going inside would be a death sentence."
Hwa-yeon naturally veered toward the left as we scanned the area.
"This is the direction it fled in, but I've lost the trail. I can't tell exactly where it went from here. Can those eyes of yours tell?"
"Not directly. My Spirit Eye isn't specialized for tracking footprints. But... I can still tell exactly where that weasel went."
"You can?"
"I can see the flow of mana. The path it took is littered with unstable mana traces. If an hour had passed, they might have dissipated, but right now, the trail is still fresh."
The Spatial Weasel can warp or fix space, but it can't do so without leaving a footprint. Those mana traces were its undoing.
'I could probably guess where it’s hiding without even looking, but...'
To raise Namgung Hwa-yeon’s favorability, it was better to play the part of the helpful junior and track it together, even if it was a bit of a hassle. For the record, her favorability was currently sitting at 30.
"I’m sorry to keep asking this of you, but could you help me until the end? If we leave the Spatial Weasel alone, it could seriously hurt a student. I want to wrap this up today."
"Who said I was doing this for them? I’m in."
"Thanks. I won't forget this, Yu-jin. I'll make sure to repay the favor later."
I took the lead, and Namgung Hwa-yeon followed closely behind. As we walked, we chatted idly about various academy matters.
"That suspicious figure you mentioned earlier—who do you think it was?"
"Hm. I have a feeling it wasn't a student."
"When I first heard the report, I thought it might be someone who brought the monster here. But since it’s a Spatial Weasel, that seems unlikely."
"Why is that?"
"Spatial Weasels are notoriously difficult to tame, even for skilled monster tamers. If someone had a specific goal, they would have brought something more obedient. My guess? The suspicious person you saw has no actual connection to the weasel."
She was spot on. There was zero connection between them.
"...They didn't seem like an outsider, either. Maybe I misidentified them?"
"It could be a staff member. But we can't afford to let our guard down. There have been cases of criminals disguising themselves as academy staff in the past."
"Come to think of it, that person was heading toward the back of the campus..."
"The back? That’s where the artificial dungeon is located. With the inter-class match coming up next week... I'll have to report this to the faculty separately."
"I mean, I can't be 100% certain..."
"Even if it’s just a possibility, it’s worth investigating."
I came to a halt. We had reached a storage warehouse situated a fair distance away from the main academy buildings. It was used for storing old desks, chairs, and cleaning supplies.
The warehouse door was slightly ajar, and I could feel the distinct mana signature of the Spatial Weasel inside.
"Thanks for the help. I would have really struggled without you. I’ll take it from here."
Namgung Hwa-yeon drew the wakizashi from her waist and charged into the warehouse without a second thought.
I watched her back for a moment and pulled up her status window again.
Trait:Brawler (S)
Skills:Kido (A), Shukuchi (A+), Wind Blade (B-)
Favorability:31
The favorability had already ticked up by 1 point.
'With stats like those, there’s absolutely no reason for me to butt in.'
I knew Hwa-yeon’s personality—forcing my way into her fight would only cause her favorability to drop. She lived for the challenge.
She immediately activated her Shukuchi (A+) skill, kicking off the ground for an instantaneous dash. She was moving so fast it looked like teleportation. I knew that at S-rank, this skill actually allowed for short-range spatial jumps.
'The Shukuchi (S) in the original game felt incredible to use.'
Screeech! Zzzip?!
The startled cry of the Spatial Weasel echoed through the warehouse. Suddenly, a section of the wall shattered outward, and Namgung Hwa-yeon was sent flying into the air. Her fluttering skirt offered me another fleeting glimpse of her white panties.
"Sunbae!" I called out.
She spun gracefully in mid-air and landed on her feet, slowly straightening her posture.
"I showed you an unsightly side. The narrow space inside made me careless. I’m not injured, so don't worry."
Hwa-yeon charged back at the monster. The weasel, flinching in surprise, tried to flee by warping the space around it. She dodged the distortions with ease, swinging her blade and sending arcs of wind cutting toward her target.
Kiiiiing—
With a high-pitched hum of warping space, the fleeing Spatial Weasel made one final, desperate lunge toward her.
"An all-out strike? Fine. I’ll meet it head-on."
Gripping her wakizashi with both hands, Hwa-yeon used Shukuchi again. Her body vanished from sight for a split second, reappearing instantly behind the weasel. Its body was split wide open, and blood sprayed across the floor as it hit the ground.
Namgung Hwa-yeon sheathed her sword with a satisfying click. I approached, confirming the creature was dead.
"Thank you, Yu-jin. Thanks to you, we neutralized it before anyone got hurt. Your abilities were a huge help. Have you ever considered joining the Student Council?"
"Not really. But if you ever need my specific skills, I’m willing to help out."
"No taking that back. I might really need you one day."
"I won't do it for free, though."
"You can head back now. I’ll handle the disposal and the damage to the warehouse."
She pulled out her smartphone to make a call—likely to the faculty advisor for the Student Council. I said my goodbyes and headed back to the dorms. Dealing with the aftermath was a hassle; a +1 to favorability was more than enough reward for today.
With the inter-class match only three days away, all the first-years from Class 1 gathered in the classroom after hours. It was time to sync up and finalize our strategy.
"So this is the 'strategy' you came up with while we were absent?" I asked, looking over the notes.
"Yeah. Since the Class President and Vice-President were nowhere to be found, we had to handle it ourselves."
The speaker was a guy with shaggy black hair named Kang Ji-on. He was ranked 26th—definitely one of the top-tier students.
"I understand if you're annoyed with me since I’ve been busy, but... the VP, Choi Da-yeon, was absent too?"
"She said she was busy," Ji-on replied curtly.
I glanced back at Choi Da-yeon. She was sitting in the back row with her arms crossed, looking as haughty as ever. She didn't look busy at all.
"Well, you seem pretty free today," Ji-on smirked. He clearly had a lot of pent-up resentment toward me and Da-yeon for skipping out on class respons. I could understand why he was pissed.
However, that didn't mean I was going to let him act cheeky with me. My patience was wearing thin.
"A split focus between hunting and interference? And you put all the top-rankers on the hunting team? What kind of half-assed plan is this?"
Kang Ji-on’s eye twitched.
"Prez, why are you complaining now? You’ve never bothered to help with the planning before!"
"Even so, this plan sucks. Change of plans. I’ll handle the interference with Class 4 by myself. Everyone else focuses on the hunt. Understood?"
The classroom immediately erupted into a buzz of discontent.
"Hoo—"
I let out a sigh loud enough for the entire room to hear. Several students flinched. My classmates knew my reputation for being short-tempered all too well. I was usually gentle with the girls, but I had zero tolerance for the guys.
"Do as I say. This is the only way we have a guaranteed win."
"...Don't give us that bullshit. Even if you're strong, you can't solo the entirety of Class 4. Did you forget they have the top ranker on their side?"
Kang Ji-on’s eyes burned with malice. Behind him, a group of about five other guys were glaring daggers at me. Their collective grudge was finally boiling over.
I considered trying to use words to convince them.
...But then I realized I didn't actually need to convince them of anything.
The moment that thought hit me, my hand moved. I slapped Kang Ji-on across his right cheek.
Bam!
The sound was far louder than a normal slap should have been. Ji-on hit the floor before he could even scream, blood already pouring from his nose and mouth.
"A piece of shit like you has been acting up too much lately. I’m the Class President. That means I'm the boss here. If you're weaker than me, keep your mouth shut and follow my orders. Got it, you stain?!"
"You son of a bitch!!"
Ji-on scrambled to his feet, mana surging through his legs. Crunch! I stomped down on his right instep before he could move, and my palm swung around again.
Boom!
Ji-on crumpled back to the floor.
"Know your place. If we weren't at the academy right now, I would have ripped you apart."
I began kicking his limp body. Every time he tried to push himself up, my leg forced him back down.
"Gahk! Ack! Urk!"
Ji-on eventually gave up and just curled into a ball, taking the hits.
"Stop! Yu-jin, that’s enough!"
Kim Cheonwoo suddenly appeared, grabbing my arm and trying to pull me away.
"Fuck off, Cheonwoo—this punk needs to learn a lesson."
"Calm down! Honestly, you're the one in the wrong here. Just settle your ass down!"
Cheonwoo was dead serious. I knew that if I kept going, I’d end up in a real fight with him. While I didn't plan on losing, I didn't want to ruin our relationship over someone like Ji-on.
I clicked my tongue and stopped the beating.
I looked around the room. The mood had completely frozen. The guys who had been glaring at me earlier were now desperately avoiding my eyes.
"Keep your mouths shut about today. if I find out someone spread this around and it causes me trouble... I won't let it slide."
I issued the warning with a palpable sense of killing intent. Some students looked terrified, while others just looked indifferent.
"And for the match—we're following my plan."
"Yu-jin... regardless of that, your plan seems impossible," Cheonwoo said quietly.
"Kim Cheonwoo. Are you stronger than me? Do you think you can take me?"
"......No."
"Then do as I say. I don't take advice from the weak."
"......"
Cheonwoo went silent, his expression unreadable. He turned to help the fallen Kang Ji-on to his feet.
"...Prez. Even so, that was way too much," a girl from the back said in a trembling voice.
I scratched the back of my head.
"Yeah? If you say so, I guess I don't have a choice... Fine, let's rethink the plan."
An incredibly awkward silence swept through the room. Kim Cheonwoo shot me a dumbfounded look, but I simply avoided his gaze.
"...Miss. I didn't want to bring it up, but that guy is a total psycho. It’s best if we stay as far away from him as possible."
Lee Kanghu—Choi Da-yeon’s lackey, who had been roughed up by me on the first day—whispered to her.
Da-yeon frowned at him.
"Since when did I ask for your opinion?"
"S-sorry, Miss. I was just worried..."
"Sigh... You clearly know nothing. That wasn't an anger issue—that was charisma. He overdid it on purpose to seize absolute control of the class."
"......It looked a lot like an anger issue to me."
Choi Da-yeon glared daggers at Kanghu until he finally clammed up.
"Sung Yu-jin might act that way on the surface, but he’s a deep person. Shut up if you can't see the big picture."
"......"
Lee Kanghu swallowed a heavy sigh. Between the unpredictable Sung Yu-jin and the inexplicably favorable Choi Da-yeon, the stress was already starting to cause hair loss.